TSA Week in Review: 15 Tubes of Black Powder Discovered at Denver

Inert Grenades Etc. –
We continue to find inerthand grenades and
other weaponry on weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if an itemlooks like a realistic bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited - real or
not. When these items are found at a checkpoint or in checked baggage, they can cause significant delays. I know
they are cool novelty items, but it is best not to take them on a plane. Read
here
and here on
why inert items cause problems.

An inert fuse igniter
was discovered at Denver (DEN).

Items in the Strangest
Places –It’s important to check your bags prior to
traveling. If a prohibited item is discovered in your bag, you could be cited
and possibly arrested by local law enforcement. Here are a few examples from
this week where prohibited items were found in strange places.

After going through a bag
that alarmed in Columbus (CMH), an officer found a hairbrush with a 4 inch
dagger attached to the handle concealed behind the lining of the bag.

What Not to Say at an
Airport – Statements like these not only delay the people who
said them but can also inconvenience manyother
passengers if the checkpoint or terminal has to be evacuated:

A passenger at
Anchorage (ANC) stated that he had a bomb in his checked bag. Because the claim
had to be investigated by law enforcement, the bag was pulled and the airport
was closed for two hours and 20 minutes. The claim turned out to be
false, and the passengers on the flight were delayed in taking off.

Stun
Guns – Two
stun guns were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints around the nation:
Salt Lake City (SLC), Newark (EWR)

Unfortunately these
sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these
finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but
at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed
down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or
in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder to please leave
these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual
does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer
to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.

Was the Anchorage event the one that involved the hockey referee? If so, I think there was a huge overreaction and the airline employee needs to be reprimanded.

If you are unfamiliar with the story, an airline employee incorrectly tagged the ref's friend's bag with a tag with the ref's name on it. The employee didn't think this was important. The ref told the airline employee, "What if my friend's bag has a bomb in it?" After that, chaos ensued and the airport was shut down.

It was a poor choice of words, but what if the incorrectly tagged bag had drugs or kiddie porn in it? The TSA isn't looking for drugs but they sure seem to find a lot of them. Anyway, aren't you supposed to follow the TSA's rule of "If you see something, say something"? This ref saw something that was wrong and said something. It may nor have been the best thing to say, but I think he was correct in pointing out the mistake. I know I don't want to have to explain why a bag full of drugs has my name on it.

You left out the part about 25 employees being fired and 19 on suspension for severe security lapses including sleeping on the job at the Newark New Jersey airport. I wonder how many other airports could survive any level of scrutiny.

Another week and more guns. I can't believe that all of these people just 'forget' that they have these guns in their bags. 30 guns and 27 LOADED. Thanks TSA for doing a great job. Please don't listen to the people complaining. How many is that for the year so far?

We're still waiting for TSA comments concerning the incident involving a terminally ill passenger at the Seattle airport. It's been weeks and we still haven't been afforded the opportunity to hear TSA's version of what happened. I guess the absence of any TSA comments means the claims by Michelle Dunaj were true and just shows how arrogant TSA is. It must be nice to think you are better than everyone else and don't have to explain or be held accountable for your actions.

What is the point of these postings? The TSA found some guns like they do every week. So what? Guns are the most basic thing that security has been trying to keep off of planes for decades. If you can't keep a gun off a plane, how can you possibly keep bombs off of planes?

Nearly thirty years ago, with just metal detectors and bag x-ray machines, airport screeners were finding just as many, or more, guns on passengers as the TSA currently finds. And that was without a nine billion dollar budget, machines that irradiated passengers, and screeners who felt up passengers on their way to the plane.

Back in 1985, screeners were finding around 50 guns per week, more than the numbers reported on this blog, and that was probably with fewer passengers flying then.

So, Mr. Burns, remind me again why the pre-TSA screeners were such a failure?

"...Anonymous said... Another week and more guns. I can't believe that all of these people just 'forget' that they have these guns in their bags. 30 guns and 27 LOADED...."

Yes...and I'm starting to find this all VERY strange. How many of these are TSA plants, I wonder? I'm sure they are not all plants, but I am having a bit of a problems believing that these things are all being transported by passingers, either on accident or on purpose.

This is all starting to not make any sense, and I'm a bit suspicious........

Bob, for the last few weeks the layout of the Weekly Recap has excessive white space, at least as I see it on my computer. For example for this last post from the picture of the weapons found at Atlanta and Denver down to the listing of all guns found is about 6 inches or so and no content.

Again it could just be my computer but navigating through these posts lately is terribly slow. I don't know if it is Blogger or something else but one of us has a problem.

Lastly, how many times are you going to recycle the same images of guns?

If the average find is 30 guns then it is pretty safe to assume there have always been about 30 guns 'in play' as it were. Yet even with 30 guns every week before the TSA, and probably since the TSA, there hasn't been a terrorist attempt.... how could that be? I mean there were 30 guns found last week and yet not one single person was arrested on Terrorism charges.

Thank you TSA employees for helping to keep our transportation systems safe. Please ignore all the negative views posted. If those people had lost a loved one on 9-11, they may feel a little differently about the job you all do. You are very much appreciated by many, as the negative posting all seem to come from a selct few, who sound disgruntled.

RP said...Thank you TSA employees for helping to keep our transportation systems safe. Please ignore all the negative views posted. If those people had lost a loved one on 9-11, they may feel a little differently about the job you all do. You are very much appreciated by many, as the negative posting all seem to come from a selct few, who sound disgruntled.

October 22, 2012 9:44 AM

Do not dishonor those who lost their lives on 9/11 by asserting no one who disagrees with TSA's invasive tactics don't care about them.

3000 people didn't die on 9/11 for Americans to give up their freedoms.

Also, what would the average flyer have to be "disgruntled" about if the TSA is oh-so-wonderful?

Anonymous said..."Another week and more guns. I can't believe that all of these people just 'forget' that they have these guns in their bags. 30 guns and 27 LOADED. Thanks TSA for doing a great job. Please don't listen to the people complaining. How many is that for the year so far?"

So, 30 guns found (which would have been found pre-TSA, by the way), means that ~70 flew. Yet no terrorist attacks. How is that a good job again?

@SB: Back in 1985, screeners were finding around 50 guns per week, more than the numbers reported on this blog, and that was probably with fewer passengers flying then.

Given the focus on weekly confiscation numbers as a measure of TSA effectiveness, I have long wondered whether the government had any statistics comparing those numbers with pre-TSA performance metrics. If the government has such a comparison, it's probably classified or SSI, "for reasons of National Security."

It seems that Google are able to provide what the government can not and/or will not. And what Google shows is not surprising at all.

There's no doubt that TSA security is considerably costlier than what we had at airports before 9/11. That higher cost is not only in dollars, but in convenience, liberty, privacy, and even bodily integrity (strip search scanners and pat downs). And that does not even include the intangible cost of creating a Frankenstein monster agency that places itself above the law that governs the rest of the country, and believes that protecting America requires the systematic destruction of what makes America uniquely worth defending.

There is also no doubt about the TSA's arrogance, and especially of the contempt they have for the public. They have empowered themselves to wage war on the public they purport to be protecting, and to treat passengers as enemies in that war.

But there is considerable doubt about whether all these increased costs have bought any improvement in security. The numbers Google found in the 1985 newspaper only strengthen that doubt.

TSA pulls NIMs (Nude Imaging Machines) from NY airports. After having found nothing that posed a threat to an aircraft and could not have been caught by a simple metal detector, I guess you've finally realized what everyone else already knew. These machines are completely unnecessary.

"Thank you TSA employees for helping to keep our transportation systems safe. Please ignore all the negative views posted. If those people had lost a loved one on 9-11, they may feel a little differently about the job you all do. You are very much appreciated by many, as the negative posting all seem to come from a selct few, who sound disgruntled."

I lost a loved one on 9/11 in the Pentagon and find the TSA to be an unconsciouable assault on our civil liberties. I know you like your cushy goverment job but we will not put up with your unconstitutional violations. I hope you understand this clearly.

Incidentally, I know dozens - if not hundreds - of others who feel the same way.

TSA pulls NIMs (Nude Imaging Machines) from NY airports. After having found nothing that posed a threat to an aircraft and could not have been caught by a simple metal detector, I guess you've finally realized what everyone else already knew. These machines are completely unnecessary.

I wish that really was what was happening but no not really. Seems the real story is those machines are older and slower. They're being replaced with newer faster ones and old ones are going to smaller airports that don't have them. Sadly TSA is doing everything it can to justify continued use of what could be dangerous technology with questionable benefit. The millimeter wave scanner produces the same result. There is a lot less concern that could be dangerous. Anyone worried about that should not use a cell phone since that is the exact same type of exposure you would get.

I see that the backscatter scanners are being removed from larger airports and relocated to smaller airports. They are being replaced with the MMW scanners. The main reason that has been given is that the MMW machines are faster. They don't seem faster to me. How much faster are they? Can you provide actual numbers?

How much is it costing taxpayers to change out these scanners? It seems like a gigantic waste of money. Is it costing more than the puffer machines that are no longer in use? It seems like the TSA wasted a lot of money installing these scanners only to remove them a couple of years later. Can the TSA provide dollar amounts for the scanner replacements?

It's a sad day in America when a mother can not defend her daughter against a disgraced government agency like the TSA... Andrea Abbott was convicted of disorderly conduct for berating TSA employees at a Tennessee airport over her teenaged daughter's pat down.

" RP said...Thank you TSA employees for helping to keep our transportation systems safe. Please ignore all the negative views posted. If those people had lost a loved one on 9-11, they may feel a little differently about the job you all do. "

--------------------

As a US Marine veteran who has family members who are also former Marines, I have lost family members and brother Marines to death and injuries as a result of 9-11. My feelings toward the TSA is of discontent as I watch them override the American freedoms that I THOUGHT my brothers and I were fighting and dying for.

When are we going to get a blog entry about how TSA treated Michelle Dunaj, a terminally ill woman? How TSA forced her to lift her shirt in public and remove bandages? How TSA destroyed one of her medically necessary saline bags?

Oops, TSA, it looks like your time could be coming to an end sooner rather than later:

"...The looming federal budget crunch, a sense that major attacks on the United States are unlikely and new bipartisan criticism of the sprawling counterterrorism bureaucracy may mean that the open checkbook era is nearing an end."

Hey Bob, we're still waiting to hear TSA's side of the incident concerning Michelle Dunaj when she passed through SEA-TAC. For any of you readers who aren't familiar with this story just Google Michelle Dunaj and ask yourself if you would like to be treated the way this lady claims she was treated by TSA then ask yourself why, why this lady would make up such a story. We must continue to press TSA for a response to the claimed act of abuse by TSA employees.

1. TSA “screeners” are not law enforcement officers. Despite wearing police-type uniforms and calling themselves “officers”, they have no police powers and no immunity from any state or local laws.

2. You have the right to remain silent, including when questioned by TSA “Behavior Detection Officers.” Anything you say may be used against you.

3. You have the 1st Amendment right to film, photograph, and record what happens in public areas of airports, including your interactions with TSA and screeners.

4. You have the right not to be assaulted or battered (sexually or otherwise), falsely arrested, unlawfully detained, or kidnapped.

5. Under most airlines’ conditions of carriage, you have the right to a full and unconditional refund if the airline refuses to transport you because you won’t show ID or won’t “consent” to whatever they want to do to you in the name of “screening”

6. If an airline cancels your reservation or refuses to transport you, you may be entitled to collect damages, and you can request that the US Department of Transportation (and, if you were denied passage to the USA from another country, that country’s authorities) investigate and fine or impose other sanctions on the airline.

7. You have the right to freedom of movement, guaranteed by the First Amendment (”the right of the people… peaceably to assemble”) and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a human rights treaty to which the US is a party: “Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence. Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own…. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.” Federal law (49 USC § 40101, part of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978) requires the TSA to consider “the public right of freedom of transit” by air when it issues regulations.